So my love of beauty and makeup products continues to be foiled by a little ingredient called tocopheryl acetate. You are likely more familiar with it’s more commonly used name, Vitamin E. Back when I was a kid I found out I was highly allergic to the stuff. My mom had bought a bottle of those little vitamin E caplets for my sister to use to help soften a scar she had. We’d all heard how wonderful vitamin E is for all things skin related so I figured if it helped with scars I bet it would help make my skin softer. So I broke open a caplet and spread that stuff ALL over my face. Next morning my skin was covered in red, angry hives. All from the vitamin E. Needless to say, I’ve tried to be diligent about ingredient checking since then. Unfortunately, vitamin E is in EVERYTHING. From cereals to nail creams, it’s been a struggle to find products without it. Vitamin E is one of those things that is heralded as a miracle ingredient and then included in everything. Over the years, I’ve come to learn that not all vitamin E is created equal. Many ingredients, like almond oil, are naturally high in vitamin E and I’ve typically been able to tolerate those products. And recently I used a face product that had tocopherol instead of tocopheryl acetate in it and was also able to tolerate it. So, in my entirely non scientific study of a sample size of one, synthetic vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate) is what causes my allergic reactions.

Something I’ve wanted to do for a while is compile a list of products that either do not included tocopheryl acetate or happen to be one of the few products that didn’t irritate my skin. And I plan to do that here! Rejoice fellow vitamin E allergic friends!

My plan with this space is to have a spot to ramble incoherently about things I like and things I don’t. Some of those things are video games, makeup and beauty, how my deliveries are either late or lost, music, books, steampunk/cosplay and more video games.